Thursday, September 29, 2011

11. A song that can be potentially used as a chat-up line"Right Here Right Now" remix from Bluffmaster. "Yeah I'm a bad boy" / "But I'm a good girl." Nobody said it had to be a good pick-up line. I just have so much fun imagining Abhishek's hip-hop avatar sidling up to someone in a bar and saying that. Plus the woman gets a line too!

12. A song to express matters from the heartI'm absolutely blanking on this one.

13. A song to express a broken heart "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee" from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. If forced to pick a favorite Karan Johar film, it's this one, though there are elements of it I find offputting, namely Anjali's tomboy-to-glamorpuss makeover that happens before Rahul realizes how awesome she is. But this song, gah, it just stabs at me, largely because of the interludes by Manpreet Akhtar (and the sequences picturized on them).

14. Your favorite song ever or the closest thing to itSlight qualification: this is my favorite song that works very well for me as a picturizaiton and straight-up musically—there are lots of songs I love very much on their own but not so much in their cinematic context and songs I love to watch but don't need to listen to outside of their films. "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" from Dil Chahta Hai nails both.

15. An English song that has been covered by BollywoodI don't mean to be snarky, but is "covered" a polite way of saying "copied"? I can't think of a single entire English song I've heard on a film soundtrack—which is probably not saying a lot, given the thousands upon thousands of film soundtracks there are, so I do not claim to speak with authority beyond what I remember having heard—but I have certainly recognized plenty of hooks, melodies, and instrumentation from English songs. One that almost made me fall off the sofa in surprise the first time I heard it years ago and continues to delight me is "Koi Yahan Aha Nache Nache" from Disco Dancer. Side note: is this auditorium the same one in the narrative setup of the flashback in Deewaar? I've definitely seen it before. Time to add it to my vintage locations project!

16. A song that you would potentially have at your wedding as a first danceIf I ever get married, it will be in the most perfunctory and low-key way possible, and at any kind of subsequent festivities, dancing will be informal and unorganized but will probably include things like "Nain Mila Kar Chain Churana" from Aamne Samne becuase 1) how can you possibly sit still when it plays? 2) awkward, erratic, and/or uncoordinated moves are completely acceptable, and 3) it combines my biggest pop culture loves (Bollywood and the Beatles).

17. A song that you know all the words toNone of them! I can't even remember song lyrics in English, despite having been in choirs since I was eight years old! I'm pretty close on "Chale Jaise Hawaien" from Main Hoon Na, though.

18. A favorite patriotic song Oh lord. Like chilling, patriotism does not move me. There must be some good ones in Dharmputra, and I have vague memories of happy villagers forming themselves into a map of India in Shankar Dada. In terms of sheer impressive-ness, how about the amazing wretch-inducing bit from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham? "Okay, England, you wanna rumble? We'll see your imperialist past and raise you the male offspring of Kajol and Shahrukh Khan! Backed by your own cherubic children! At one of your snobby private institutions of class and privilege! On your own turf! SUCK IT, UNITED KINGDOM! JAI HIND!"

19. A song that you are embarrassed to admit that you love I don't bother with getting embarrassed about Bollywood loves (and I suspect you don't either), but I do recognize that "Mr. Lova Lova" from Ishq is not very good, or at least has some highly suspect elements. I don't think all of it is even in tune. But still.

20. A song picturized on your favorite star I've written several times about "Kehne Ki Nahin Baat," a song so chock full of musical and visual delights that the fact that my favorite star of all time shines in it—and that too performing in a way that people often forget he can do so well—is merely icing on the cake. Here is what I wrote in a post devoted to the song back in 2008:

This is the most exuberant Shashi dancing I have ever seen, and it is a thing of beauty. He hops and skips barefoot down the sidewalk, leading a ramshackle conga-ish line of backup fellows, he twists again like I wish I did last summer, and he even gets his Elvis on for a moment, thrusting his hips this way and that. He gets his proto-SRK on too, eyebrows working overtime. He does not yet have his 70s masala curls, but his hair is long and loose enough that it dances too, easy breezy in the beachfront sunshine. In short, he is Shammi - yet with all his magical Shashi powers too.

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The only entire English song in a Hindi movie soundtrack that comes to mind is "My heart is beating" from the 1975 movie Julie. As far as I know, it was an original and not a cover.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfEg9qSvo-sI also remember some version of the "Dhoom machale" song which seemed like it was completely in English.

For the patriotic song, how about "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani," especially the version sung by the entirety of India discovering that they're good people after all as they pack the streets to stop the execution?

zeeniebaby (I may have said this before, but I love your user name) - Good find! Love his sparkly gold guitar too. :)

Jay - True!

Ellie - Ooooh fun one! I actually enjoy that song in its first iteration (plus the hand gestures! dancealone!).

D&N - YAY! :D

bookwormwendy - When I saw this comment in, I thought "Ohhhh, if she goes to my writeup about RNBDJ, she's going to be unhappy," then sure enough. The fun thing about the 30 Day Song Challenge is that everyone has such different answers - I've enjoyed hunting down the entries I've never heard before.

Zeenie is a fabulous alter ego identification! I was just looking at some pictures of her on this site http://bollywoodmoviefashion.blogspot.com/2011/09/zeenat-aman-in-ajanabee-1974.html and wishing I had 1/10 as much style. (Having a professional wardrobe/hair/makeup crew helps, I'm sure!)

Bong Along: a blog on vintage Bengali movies co-written by Indie Quill and me (and perhaps a few very friendly appearances by other friends as well).

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